Haitian immigrants brace for end of protected status

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants could lose their legal status as early as Tuesday, subjecting them to deportation after the U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed the Trump administration to proceed with terminating their humanitarian protections. 

The incoming loss of Temporary Protected Status for between 330,000 and 350,000 immigrants comes amid the Trump administration’s deportation campaign and continued attacks on TPS recipients who hail from countries deemed too unsafe for return. The State Department highly advises against any visit to Haiti due to kidnappings and violence by gangs. 

The Department of Homeland Security has already urged those who are set to lose their TPS to self-deport. 

“Temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY,” DHS said in a Monday social media post. “For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Several media reports have indicated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning for aggressive enforcement of Haitian immigrants who lose their legal status, starting with the large population in Springfield, Ohio. 

The state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, told CBS News on Monday he was not aware of those plans from DHS, and called any enforcement actions against Haitians a “mistake.”

Lower court stay

The exact timing of the loss of status is complicated by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who has yet to apply the Supreme Court ruling in the case and lift an earlier stay that bars the administration from ending TPS for Haitians. A decision, potentially issuing another stay while the court hears other arguments, is expected this week. 

The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed a briefing schedule to continue arguments in the District of Columbia trial court, with the last brief due Nov. 6. Attorneys for Haitians with TPS plan to file a brief by Friday laying out their legal arguments in the wake of the high court’s decision.

Federal judges have paused TPS terminations for nationals from Burma, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Before the second Trump administration began last year, there were roughly 1.3 million immigrants on TPS hailing from 17 countries. 

Businesses, families in flux

Immigration advocates and business leaders have criticized the administration’s policy to revoke TPS.

“Most adult TPS holders are active participants in the labor force, working in industries that already face persistent worker shortages,” Rebecca Shi, CEO of American Business Immigration Coalition Action, said in a statement. “Removing these workers doesn’t just upend lives, it weakens industries that are already struggling to meet demand.”

The Haitian Bridge Alliance, which advocates for Haitian TPS holders, said in a statement that the loss of deportation protections will lead to family separation, as many recipients have U.S. citizen children.

“What we could witness will be one of the largest family separation events in modern day history,” the Haitian Bridge Alliance said.

Other avenues closing

Some TPS recipients can apply for another immigration status, such as asylum, though not all can apply or qualify. 

For example, noncitizens with TPS due to a natural disaster are unlikely to meet the criteria for asylum, which includes fear of persecution “on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,” according to federal law. 

Additionally, the Trump administration issued a rule Tuesday that will allow for asylum officers to immediately send asylum seekers to appear before immigration judges without conducting an interview or including key evidence of the applicant’s credibility, leading to a quick denial and deportation. 

The new rule, coupled with the loss of TPS, means that recipients are unlikely to have a strong chance of winning asylum claims. 

High court ruling

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that courts were barred from reviewing if the decision to end TPS designation made by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem followed the proper procedures.

Even though the case was brought by TPS recipients from Haiti and Syria, the decision could also impact other TPS-related challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to end the designation.

Following the high court’s ruling, attorneys representing TPS recipients in courts across the country are amending their complaints. 

They argue that the termination of TPS status, including work authorization, is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 5th Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which says the government cannot deprive a person of their “life, liberty or property” without following certain procedures. 

Lawyers have also argued that the TPS terminations were based on racial animus rather than because country conditions improved. 

They cite President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign statements that falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating house pets.